Building fences all over the beautiful county that is Cornwall.
- How long have you been at ColourFence? Almost 8 years!
- What is your role and what do you do? Director/owner of Colourfence Cornwall. My days on the tools building fences are now very limited so I spend most of the time planning and carrying out quotes, coordinating installation schedules and organising teams to complete those installations. As back-end boy, I also seem to be doing far too much paperwork these days! I remember a fellow Franchisee telling me in my early days that when you spend the odd day on site constructing fences, after being off the tools it will be more like a day out, away from running the business – turns out he was right!
- What is your favourite:
- film: I’m not very good at sitting still so don’t watch many films but if I had to choose one it would probably be Lion.
- season: Spring & Autumn
- animal: Dog
- food: Curry
- Favourite Place to go where you live? Crantock beach around the corner, where I indulge myself in my latest passion hydrofoil surfing?
- Marmite, love or hate? Love
- Does pineapple belong on pizza? It doesn’t offend me, but I don’t generally choose it. I know Italians find it offensive but us Brits have some interesting culinary quirks where anything goes.
- What is the best bit about your job? Being your own boss and the flexibility that comes with it. With 3 daughters in tow, I need to be flexible with my work, they are demanding little ladies!
- What’s the worst bit about your job? Not being able to switch off. Even when on holiday it’s impossible to fully switch off because you know customers or prospects will be trying to contact you. The Christmas break is about the only time of year this isn’t the case!
- What’s the funniest thing that’s happened at work? It would still have to be during my training with Mark, Climar MD. I remember he picked me up for a job down west in a flatbed truck with his brother driving. Halfway down the dual carriageway, we heard something flapping at the front of the truck, followed by a bang and then the flapping stopped. When we stopped for supplies at the local hardware store, we realised that quite a large chunk of the front grill of the truck was missing. We still managed to get the job done on time and limped home!
- What’s the most memorable installation or task you’ve done? Memorable for all the wrong reasons would have to be a fence we installed for a customer in our area. She spent the entire time taking photos of us and watching from her window, while still being very nice and offering cake and tea throughout. We completed the job and all was great, but the next day she cancelled the cheque. She had done the same to other contractors. Thankfully we managed to get payment in the end but several other companies weren’t as lucky and no doubt felt the pain.
- What do you think is the best thing about the ColourFence products? Quite simply their USP of being low-maintenance and long-lasting. Customers’ attitudes have changed so much over the last 8 years since I started. When it comes to building products and fences, low maintenance and longevity have moved up the list over price. You can’t win ‘em all but it’s nice that customers see the clear benefit of ColourFence over wooden fences and the headache it will save them for years to come.
- What are you most looking forward to in 2022? I’m hoping for a smoother year with few Covid interruptions and no materials shortages, so guess I’m looking forward to a stronger year. It’s been an expensive start with large investments in new tools, vehicles and staff, but I guess you’ve got to speculate to accumulate!
Thanks for sharing Olly!
‘Til next week!
Jo @ Colourfence
Follow us on Socials
